HOUSEWIFE

HOUSEWIFE (1934). Director: Alfred E. Green.

Nan Reynolds (Ann Dvorak) helps to push her husband Bill (George Brent) to success, then has to deal with it when he falls in love with a man-hungry co-worker, Patricia Berkeley (Bette Davis) and says he wants to marry her. You can argue that the film is fairly predictable and formulaic, but it's also well-acted by the principals and surprisingly entertaining. Dvorak is very lovely and capable, Brent proves again that he could give many a winning performance, and Davis is saucy and likable despite her "bad girl" role. John Halliday and Ruth Donnelly also score as, respectively, one of Bill's clients (in his advertising business), who falls for Nan, and Nan's amused and amusing sister-in-law, Dora. 

Verdict: Easy to take and quite enjoyable, with a winning cast. ***

A LIFE OF HER OWN

A LIFE OF HER OWN (1950). Director: George Cukor. 

Lily James (Lana Turner) leaves her dead-end small town for a life of glamor, modeling, and excitement in New York and gets a little more than she bargained for. After a variety of adventures and mis-adventures, she becomes involved with a married man (Ray Milland) who has a crippled wife (Margaret Phillips). Dismissed as soap opera and "fluff" by the critics at the time of its release and after, this is actually a hard-hitting drama with an excellent script and dialogue by Isobel Lennart. Cukor, well-known as an actors' director, certainly worked his magic on the cast. Lana Turner is first-class throughout, giving what may have been her best performance in films, and Ray Milland, often a Great Stone Face, is much more impressive than usual. Ann Dvorak almost walks off with the movie as the aging model, Mary Ashlon, who is hoping for a comeback that even she realizes is unlikely. Tom Ewell, Louis Calhern, Margaret Phillips and Sara Haden (as a nurse) are also notable. Barry Sullivan superbly delivers a great super-cynical speech near the end of the film. Although one could argue that the movie sticks to a dated sin-and-suffer formula, it actually is true to its essentially dark tone (even though the original ending was softened quite a bit). 

Verdict: Fascinating stuff in its own way and very well-performed. ***1/2.

OUR VERY OWN

Ann Blyth and Joan Evans

OUR VERY OWN (1950). Director: David Miller.

Gail McCaulay (Ann Blyth) is just about to turn 18. Gail, who has two younger sisters, is practically engaged to her handsome beau, Chuck (Farley Granger). The elder of Gail's two siblings, Joan (Joan Evans of On the Loose), is attracted to Chuck and very jealous of their relationship, and during an argument she lets slip that Gail was adopted, something Joan only recently discovered by accident. Gail's world is upended by this revelation, and she decides to seek out her birth mother (Ann Dvorak), but will she be able to ultimately handle her feelings and accept that she is very much loved by her true and supportive family? And what will her "real" mother be like?

Ann Dvorak and Jane Wyatt

Our Very Own is an absorbing and pleasant movie with good performances from Blyth, Evans and Granger as well as from Jame Wyatt and Donald Cook as the girls' parents. Ann Dvorak also scores as the birth mother who is so afraid her husband will find out about her child, and you wish she was given  more screen time. Natalie Wood is adorable as the youngest of the three sisters, and she has a cute scene when she's driving a TV installer (Gus Schilling) to distraction with all of her questions. Phyllis Kirk also appears to advantage as Zaza, a very sympathetic friend of Gail's -- her wealthy father would rather go to a party than attend her graduation.  Martin Milner is Bert, who has a crush on Joan and is rather unkind to Gwen (Kipp Hamilton of The Unforgiven), a slightly chubby girl who has a crush on him. Those who hope the film might be a trash wallow along the lines of Three Bad Sisters will be disappointed, as there are no cat fights and no talk of genetic issues that may derail marriage plans and the like.

Verdict: Compelling romantic drama with a heartwarming conclusion. ***. 

MANHATTAN MERRY-GO-ROUND

MANHATTAN MERRY-GO-ROUND (1937). Director: Charles Reisner.

Jerry Hart (Phil Regan) sings in a Manhattan nightclub on a revolving platform or "merry-go-round." His fiancee is Ann Rogers (Ann Dvorak), who is a secretary for a music business. Said business is taken over by hood Tony Gordoni (Leo Carrillo), who wants to sign the temperamental opera diva "Charlizzini" (Tamara Geva) to a recording contract. Gordoni forces Jerry to charm and romance "Charlie" and stay attendant on her even as Ann waits at the altar and is jilted. Will Ann ever forgive Jerry? Phil Regan [We're in the Money] was a handsome and popular crooner of the period who never quite made it in pictures, probably because his contract was with Monogram and Republic and not MGM. But he was "dreamy" looking, had a very nice voice, and was a competent enough actor, being adept and pleasing in Manhattan Merry-Go-Round. Ann Dvorak [Out of the Blue] is completely wasted in this, but Geva manages to be somewhat amusing as the diva, even if you begin to wish someone would shoot her. Regan manages to sing an aria from "Martha" not too shabbily, but the film's musical highlight may be Cab Calloway's rendition of "I Want to Make Rhythm." Other "artists" in the film are singing cowboy Gene Autry [Phantom Empire] and Kay Thompson and Her Girls, who are utterly lacking in distinction. The real Joe DiMaggio has a cameo as himself, but is mistaken for a radio singer and tries to warble a tune. A male supporting character practices hand-kissing with Phil Regan, which prompts some raised eyebrows from lady passersby.

Verdict: Another mediocre Republic musical with some interesting players. **.

ANN DVORAK: HOLLYWOOD'S FORGOTTEN REBEL

ANN DVORAK: HOLLYWOOD'S FORGOTTEN REBEL. Christina Rice. University Press of Kentucky; 2013.

Like many of us, Christina Rice first discovered Ann Dvorak in a videocassette of Three on a Match decades after the film had been released, and became a fan, intrigued by the reasons why this talented actress didn't have a much bigger career. Biographies written by fans can often be superficial love-fests, but Ms. Rice has avoided that trap by not only doing solid research, having access to personal letters, but by recognizing that Dvorak could sometimes be her own worst enemy. Dvorak took on Warner Brothers in court before Bette Davis did; the trouble was, Bette Davis was Bette Davis and Ms. Dvorak was nowhere in that league of fame and clout. She was poised for potential stardom when she got married [to first husband, actor-director Leslie Fenton of The House of Secrets and Pardon My Past] and simply took off for a several months-long honeymoon all over the world and never quite got back in the studio's good graces. She had ambition but it was at war with a certain need for independence which was frequently stymied by her marriages, all three of which had definite difficulties, to put it mildly. Rice not only examines Dvorak's film roles thoroughly, but absorbingly details her personal life, such as when she followed British Fenton overseas during WW2 out of devotion to him, but afterward found she'd outgrown him; her troubled relationship with her mother, who'd appeared in silent pictures but was long forgotten; and her on-again off-again third marriage to Nick Wade which played out in Hawaii and elsewhere; not to mention her austere final days when she worked on various abortive projects to no avail. Dvorak gave some fine performances throughout the years, with a particularly excellent portrayal in A Life of Her Own; she also appeared in such films as Scarface, The Strange Love of Molly Louvain, Gangs of New York, Flame of Barbary Coast, The Private Affairs of Bel Ami and The Walls of Jericho, among many others. The book is enriched with some great personal photos as well.

Verdict: Excellent biography of an actress forgotten by all but old film buffs. ***1/2.

OUT OF THE BLUE

Ann Dvorak and Carole Landis

OUT OF THE BLUE (1947). Director: Leigh Jason.

Arthur Earthleigh (George Brent) is a hen-pecked husband in Greenwich Village who meets up with a kooky, tippling gal named Olive (Ann Dvorak) while his wife, Mae (Carole Landis of A Scandal in Paris) is out of town. Taking Olive to his apartment, Arthur is panicked to discover that it's hard to get rid of her -- until she apparently drops dead in his living room. He puts the body on the terrace of his disliked next-door neighbor, artist David Gelleo (Turhan Bey of The Mummy's Tomb), who is trying to entertain fellow dog lover Deborah (Virginia Mayo). David insists that Arthur help him get rid of the body, but is Olive really dead, and what will happen when Mae gets back in town? And could either Arthur or David be the notorious Greenwich Village Murderer who has already amassed several victims? Out of the Blue is as silly as it sounds, although it has some amusing moments, and the performances are more than okay. Brent [The Great Lie] is fine in a much nerdier role than he normally played, and Ann Dvorak is absolutely delightful, although it may not be her fault that eventually the presence of drunken Olive -- dead, not dead, and so on -- becomes rather tiresome. Elizabeth Patterson is cute as a little old lady who keeps seeing corpses and Flame makes an impression as David's dog Rabelais.The light tone of the movie is at odds with the whole business of a fiendish murderer killing young women, albeit his activities are never shown.

Verdict: A little too cute: **1/2.

CROONER

CROONER (1932). Director: Lloyd Bacon.

"I wonder how you can posssibly stretch the subject of yourself over two more days."

"Radio: Marconi's gift to the morons!"

Band leader Teddy Taylor (David Manners, pictured) fills in for his sick vocalist and sings in such a low voice that a drunk patron (Guy Kibbee) tells him to use a megaphone. Taylor does so -- and discovers that now the ladies think his voice is just swell. The manager (J. Carroll Naish) notices that the women are practically swooning over Teddy and offers him a contract. He becomes known as the S.A. [sex appeal] singer. But Teddy's girlfriend Judy (Ann Dvorak) importunes an agent friend who loves her, Peter (Ken Murray), to take Teddy on as a client. Before long Teddy is speaking in an affected voice, acting like he thinks he's the greatest thing since Caruso [in actuality he's not a very good singer] and believing his own publicity. The funniest scene has the ass trying to sing opera! But anyone who gets this swell-headed is bound to take a fall ... This is a fast-paced, amusing comedy with excellent performances from everyone in the cast; Dvorak is as lovely as ever. You're left with the feeling, however, that she winds up with the wrong guy at the end. Probably inspired by the career of Rudy Vallee, at least as far as the megaphone goes.

Verdict: There's no accounting for taste. **1/2.

THREE ON A MATCH

THREE ON A MATCH (1932). Director: Mervyn LeRoy.

Three schoolmates run into each other a few years later and their lives intersect. Joan Blondell is Mary; Bette Davis is Ruth; and Ann Dvorak is Vivian. Although Vivian has a cute little boy and a loving, wealthy husband, she's bored and goes off on a vacation where she meets a new man -- and begins a downward spiral to ruin. Lyle Talbot, Warren William, and Humphrey Bogart are also in the cast; young Sidney Miller is fine as Willie Goldberg. Three on a Match is not without its interesting moments, but the material is essentially second-rate. Dvorak proved what an excellent actress she was in such films as Housewife, Girls of the Road, The Long Night, and especially A Life of Her Own.

Verdict: How the rich suffer when money isn't enough! **.

GIRLS OF THE ROAD

GIRLS OF THE ROAD (1940). Director: Nick Grinde.

"The debutramps have just arrived!"

Governor's daughter Kay Warren (Ann Dvorak) is disturbed to learn of the plight of so many homeless girls who wind up criss-crossing the country, murdered, or in jail, so she decides to take to the road (with fancy suitcase and plenty of money) to find out first-hand what these girls are up against. She runs into tough Mickie (Helen Mack) and Jerry (Ann Doran) and others, gets arrested, jumps off a train, and tries to calm a wolf pack of itchy, angry gals. While this short film is certainly fast-paced, none of it is nearly as interesting as it sounds, so you're basically left with a lot of dullness. Herman Brix/Bruce Bennett shows up as a cop. Its level of grittiness and reality is about the same as that of a Bowery Boys feature. A brief slap-fast between gals livens things up for a couple of seconds. The acting is very good, however.

Verdict: Watch Caged instead. *1/2.

THE LONG NIGHT

THE LONG NIGHT (1947). Director: Anatole Litvak.

Ann Dvorak loves Henry Fonda who loves Barbara Bel Geddes, who is loved by Vincent Price, who is ... and all with a lot of talk, talk, talk. The film begins with a murder, and the perpetrator being cornered by police in his apartment. After what seems like an hour the flashback finally begins that tells us what led up to the murder, but there are two problems: the flashback isn't that interesting, and it keeps getting interrupted by more scenes with the fugitive and the police. Fonda is back from the war, and meets Bel Geddes, who is both fascinated and repulsed by magician Vincent Price, whom was formerly carrying on with his assistant, Dvorak. It all leads to tragedy and a lot of tedium. The Long Night is turgid, pretentious and unconvincing nearly from start to finish; the wind-up takes even longer than the opening. Fonda's performance is too controlled, Price's too phony, but Dvorak is vivid and Bel Geddes is strong and fully committed; she's excellent in a movie that doesn't deserve her. The characterizations are too thin to make any of these people really matter to us -- and all that's left is talk. And when all is said and done this is just another movie about a guy who goes nutso when he discovers his gal isn't quite as "pure" as he thought she was, giving it all a very dated air. Dimitri Tiomkin's score is interesting, but too much -- this ain't exactly Grand Opera.

Verdict: A long night indeed. *1/2.

HOUSEWIFE

HOUSEWIFE (1934). Director: Alfred E. Green.

Nan Reynolds (Ann Dvorak) helps to push her husband Bill (George Brent) to success, then has to deal with it when he falls in love with a man-hungry co-worker, Patricia Berkeley (Bette Davis, pictured) and says he wants to marry her. You can argue that the film is fairly predictable and formulaic, but it's also well-acted by the principals and surprisingly entertaining. Dvorak is very lovely and capable, Brent proves again that he could give many a winning performance, and Davis is saucy and likable despite her "bad girl" role. John Halliday and Ruth Donnelly also score as, respectively, one of Bill's clients (in his advertising business), who falls for Nan, and Nan's amused and amusing sister-in-law, Dora.

Verdict: Nothing special, but easy to take. ***.